


No Need For Words

by Ace_Valentin_21



Category: Marvel, Marvel (Comics), Marvel 616, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Mute Steve Rogers, Stargazing, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, past trauma, proposal, selective mutism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-06
Updated: 2018-10-06
Packaged: 2019-07-26 00:59:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16209362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ace_Valentin_21/pseuds/Ace_Valentin_21
Summary: Tony doesn’t need Steve to tell him that he loves him.





	No Need For Words

Steve is a spot of quiet in the loudest city in the world.

Tony likes to sit on the roof of the compound with him, watching the city dance, forcing the sky into a half-sleeping, half-waking state with it’s relentless lights. He leans his head against Steve’s shoulder, and Steve slips an arm around his waist. The warmth and comfort of his touch is so uniquely Steve; even under a blindfold, Tony would know his Captain in an instant just from the feel of his hands. 

It’s nice, to just sit in silence. Sometimes, Tony goes on passionately for hours as Steve sits patiently, nodding and encouraging him to keep talking - after all, not talking makes for a great listener. Other times they’ll watch a movie, or go for dinner, or do normal couple things and they enjoy themselves; but it’s times like this when Tony feels like all is right in the world, just him and Steve and their pocket of silence in the endless noise.

Steve has spoken a total of nine words since waking up from the ice. The doctors had given him the all clear, saying he was in perfect condition, but something had been left in the past when he found himself lost in the future. He doesn’t want to talk, nor does he need to; calls during battle are made with taps and clicks through the coms, and the whole team are fluent in sign language for when he has something he needs to say... but talking was always just too much.

Enter Tony Stark, arrogant and loud-mouthed and utterly captivating. He completes him in a way nobody else ever could or ever will - by recognising that Steve is already complete.

Tony looks up at the other man, remembering the sympathetic headlines, the pitying glances from S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and civilians alike when they thought he wasn’t looking. He never felt like his other half was anything less than himself, despite what some had said. 

“Come on, Tony, you can’t expect to last long with someone who’s that... broken.” “Surely you’d want someone who actually knows how to hold a conversation?” He has heard them all before, and every time, the answer was the same: “Steve doesn’t need to talk to tell me he loves me.”

Tony suppresses a laugh. Steve looks down at him, his face thrown into sharp relief by the yellow light of New York. 

Except, well... he did.

Steve had been seeing a speech pathologist ever since he joined the Avengers, but he never changed his quiet ways. He didn’t want to. Tony thought he should stop going; it was a waste of Steve’s time and it was trying to change the man he loved into someone else. But Steve persisted, shrugging off Tony’s doubts with a wave of his hand and a kiss on the forehead. Why, Tony couldn’t understand, until earlier that night.

Tony thumbs the ring on his left hand. Steve watches him, and smiles. He traces his hand down Tony’s spine.

Steve had taken him out onto the balcony, a thin railing between them and the air. He’s kissed him, soft and tender and so very Steve. He’d run his hands up Tony’s arms and pressed their foreheads together, trying to get as much contact as possible. When he finally let go and stepped back, Tony was almost disappointed... but only for a moment.

The neon and streetlights create webbed constellations, illuminations a beautiful landscape, but Tony has eyes only for Steve, leaning back with his head on the other man’s shoulder, cupping his face in one calloused hand.

He had watched with confusion, then shock, then sheer joy, as Steve got down on one knee, but nothing could prepare him for what happened next.

Tony presses a kiss to Steve’s jaw, and Steve leans into Tony’s caress.

Steve had opened his mouth, breathing in deeply, and waited for a moment, like he was remembering something very difficult. Then, he spoke.  
He spoke like he had spent hours getting every sound just right. His voice was quiet and hoarse from disuse, but strong, and he spoke with his whole heart behind it - the only words he’d said in all his time in the future.

“Tony Stark, I love you. Will you marry me?”

Steve leans down to claim his soon-to-be husband’s lips with his own, and stands, pulling Tony to his feet with him. He wraps his arms around Tony’s waist, and Tony swings his arms around the taller man’s neck. Steve buries his head into the crook of his lover’s neck, breathing deeply, committing every sensation to memory. There, by the light of the moon, the stars, and the city full of noise, there is no need for words.


End file.
